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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25662148">Bitter &amp; Sweet</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ActuallyMarina/pseuds/ActuallyMarina'>ActuallyMarina</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Persona 3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Clothed Sex, F/M, Light Angst, Mutual Pining, Near Future, On-Again/Off-Again Relationship, Past Character Death, Porn With Plot, Vaginal Fingering, hoo boy, i always wanted to write a future au where akihiko is a stress smoker, therapy doesn't exist i guess</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-08-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 03:20:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,874</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25662148</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ActuallyMarina/pseuds/ActuallyMarina</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>In an attempt to sort out some of his past trauma, Akihiko tries to find something that belonged to his oldest friend.</p>
<p>When he and Minako return to the Iwatodai dormitory for the first time in years, it's hard to block out all of the memories that still live there. Hard enough that they decide to stop trying.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Arisato Minako/Sanada Akihiko, Female Persona 3 Protagonist/Sanada Akihiko</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>49</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Bitter &amp; Sweet</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"...Do you really think it's still here?"</p>
<p>The air in the Iwatodai dorm tasted strange, but familiar. Minako had to pace herself. She wanted the stale air to fill her senses, to pull her back in time. Years later, she still hadn't found a place that felt so much like home.</p>
<p>Akihiko took a moment to answer. She could see his jaw tighten. Like the tension would snap back and leave a welt on his skin if he stopped paying attention for a split second. He still had trouble expressing himself in words.</p>
<p>"The lock on the front door wasn't broken, so that's a good sign," he replied, tone gentle. As if someone might overhear their conversation in a condemned building. "But we won't know until we look, right? Come on, Arisato. You’ll catch a cold if we stay too long."</p>
<p>He could tell that the sight of the lounge was captivating her, threatening to pull her away from the task at hand. Akihiko began moving toward the staircase. She tore her eyes away from the furniture, still lined up exactly as she remembered it. The only difference was a layer of dust.</p>
<p>Did he only call her 'Arisato' to be poignant? To remind her that this wasn't something they were doing for fun?</p>
<p>While they climbed the stairs, she told herself to focus. They had more than a few good reasons not to linger. As Akihiko pointed out, the heat was off, and it was a cold October night.</p>
<p>Beyond that, they didn't technically have permission to be there. Mitsuru hadn't approved of their intentions to scavenge pieces of the past, and her family still owned the building. You could call their mission 'breaking and entering' if you weren't willing to be generous. Also, light theft.</p>
<p>Their goal was a pocket watch that neither of them had ever actually seen.</p>
<p>Before long, they stopped in front of Shinjiro's room. She thought Akihiko would go right inside, but they idled without acting. When she took a step forward, her hand reached the doorknob a split second before his. His rough fingertips brushed her knuckles, then pulled back.</p>
<p>"Ah, sorry..."</p>
<p>He apologized reflexively, even though there was no reason to. Minako grabbed his retreating hand and held it captive with both of hers. Now facing each other, she gave it an encouraging squeeze. He'd been reluctant to touch since they reconnected, but allowed her to soothe him.</p>
<p>"It'll be quick, right? And you promised to buy me ramen afterwards?"</p>
<p>Inhaling through his nose, Akihiko let the heavy breath out through his mouth. He nodded.</p>
<p>"If we find it, I'll buy you dessert too."</p>
<p>With that final piece of encouragement, Minako turned back and carefully opened the door. She muttered a polite 'excuse us, we're coming in'. Not to anyone in particular; it just seemed like the decent thing to do when intruding on someone else's space. Especially when you were there to loot their belongings.</p>
<p>At first, the room felt too spacious. She almost thought it was bigger than her own was, but that was because it was under-decorated. The same furniture was in all the usual places. She didn't remember anyone coming to clear Shinjiro's things out, but apparently they had.</p>
<p>Or did it always look like this? She had no way of knowing.</p>
<p>"Is it... empty?" She asked, still pulling Akihiko by the hand as they moved into the center of the room. "There was another room that no one lived in all year, wasn't there? Did we get them messed up?"</p>
<p>"No, this is it."</p>
<p>Akihiko sounded confident. He broke away from her to approach the room's bland-looking desk, and then she saw it too. There <em> was </em> something in the room. A medium-sized box that practically blended in with the paint on the walls. He grabbed the corner and leaned over it in order to see inside. She moved to stand beside him and do the same.</p>
<p>"...Yeah. This is it," she agreed with a frown.</p>
<p>Though few, the items inside belonged to Shinjiro. The gear he'd used, a SEES armband, and an evoker stood out the most. Akihiko took them out one by one and placed them on the desk. She could already tell they weren't going to find what he was looking for.</p>
<p>"It doesn't look like the watch is there..."</p>
<p>Akihiko didn't respond. The box emptied out quickly, his busy hands still going over the contents like he didn't want to overlook anything. After double checking everything, he paused to think. Each item was returned to the box, and he leaned over it. Palms splayed out over the desktop, fidgeting just enough to cause concern.</p>
<p>She swallowed and stayed quiet, but nothing happened.</p>
<p>"Maybe if we look somewhere else..?"</p>
<p>The hush cast over the entire building broke with a sudden bang, scrape, and clatter. Akihiko had kicked the desk in frustration, setting it at an unnatural angle compared to the room's other tidy furniture. The box fell onto the floor and tipped over, spilling some of its modest contents.</p>
<p>The noise didn't startle her. As Akihiko sulked over to the room's single dusty window, she saw something familiar. He dipped a hand into his jacket pocket and did some shuffling with his back turned to her. The only thing he couldn't hide was the <em> chk chk chk </em> of a lighter.</p>
<p>"Sorry." He was apologizing again. This time, she could accept it for his sake. "For getting mad. And for smoking. I know you don't like it, I just..."</p>
<p>He paused before continuing, exhaling a cloud of smoke.</p>
<p>"It's not here, so we can leave. I'll get over it. Give me a second, okay?"</p>
<p>Minako fiddled with one of the large buttons on her coat. The edge of her nails tapped and clicked against the plastic. She didn't want to pry, but he was being frustrating again. It was harder for them to be honest with each other these days.</p>
<p>"I don't mind looking for a little longer. If the things in the box aren't good enough, maybe there's something else we can find. Here, or even in the kitchen? He could have left it there."</p>
<p>The more solutions she offered, Akihiko could only shake his head in refusal. The way he kept his gaze set out at the city on the other side of the window said more than he himself would.</p>
<p>"Okay, then let's make a deal."</p>
<p>She slid into the space beside him, and reached for the window's lock. The mechanism stuck, but shifted into place with a hollow clunk. Akihiko didn't seem to realize what she was doing until the window pane slid wide open. A vacuum of brisk air sucked inside the room, stinging her cheeks. It felt nice.</p>
<p>"H-Hey," he finally managed, though the objection was weak. "What's the point of doing that?"</p>
<p>"It's bad manners to smoke indoors," she told him, turning back with a sly look in her eyes. "Finish up, and toss it out! I'm being nice about it this once. After that, let's think about what to do."</p>
<p>Though reluctant, Akihiko pulled the cigarette from his mouth. Pinched between his fingers, he examined it for a moment before relenting. He grimaced and flicked it out the window, unfinished. Neither or them spoke up again.</p>
<p>Their crusade to unearth objects from the past was a recent one, but it wasn't going well. It was hard to find the sort of remnants  that felt significant enough for their purposes. Things they could bury or burn, or even hold onto one more time. Akihiko was insistent on finding something of Shinjiro's that pre-dated SEES, and it was proving harder than they first thought.</p>
<p>The watch was lost, sometime in 2009. Minako had learned about it from Shinjiro himself, but never found the time to search for it. Maybe she would have understood him better if it'd been found back then. There was nothing they could do about it now but start looking.</p>
<p>"I love this building," she spoke up, leaning back against the window sill. There was no screen, but she liked the feeling of the wind on her back. "Some of the memories hurt, but there are wonderful ones too. Sometimes I wish I could go back."</p>
<p>Akihiko laughed and turned his attention to the bedroom's open door. He lived on this floor. Even something as simple as the hallway must have looked nostalgic to him.</p>
<p>"I wonder how much has actually changed? I still rely on you too much."</p>
<p>It was easy to fall back into routine when you missed someone enough. Akihiko was busy with his burgeoning career as a detective. She was managing a classroom of rowdy elementary school kids, six days a week. He thought they were only opening each others' old wounds by staying together, and she agreed.</p>
<p>They remained somewhat distant friends for years, and grew up without each other. Under the roof of the dorm, she realized how wrong that felt. But that wasn't easy to put into words.</p>
<p>"I'd do the same for any of our friends. Don't go thinking you're special, Akihiko-san!"</p>
<p>He snorted quietly. "I guess that's fair. I contributed to more than a few of those painful memories you have, so I won't complain."</p>
<p>When he said it like that, it was hard not to reflect on their time together. The closest thing to love that terrified teenagers were capable of feeling was still beautiful to her. It was destructive, but that didn't mean she would trade it for anything.</p>
<p>"...Good or bad, you're most of those memories," she admitted, glancing over at him with a shrug. She didn't want much, in that moment. Looking him in the eye would be good enough. "So, alright. You can be a little bit special to me, okay?"</p>
<p>Akihiko granted her wish and met her gaze. He sighed, but a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. He reached over and ruffled her hair. The gesture pulled her a little closer to his side.</p>
<p>"I accept. A little bit is plenty."</p>
<p>She playfully elbowed his side, but noticed that she didn't feel any less tense. The conversation died. All Minako could do was try to ignore intrusive thoughts of what to say next.</p>
<p>I miss you. I wish we never grew apart. The past hurts me too, thank you for sharing it with me. I think I really loved you back then.</p>
<p>"...Okay, I spent long enough teasing you. Should we -- ?"</p>
<p>The words didn't form, because Akihiko had moved to kiss her. He held her cheek in his hand, and she was all too happy to let him. Inside the dorm, it felt like no time passed after all. They were mere feet away from his old bedroom. A place he could see more of her than anyone else. Her tears, her scars, her skin.</p>
<p>A smile that only he got to see. For him alone.</p>
<p>Maybe those memories were coming back to him, too. The kiss changed into something deeper before long. Sweetness made way for an agonizing hunger. Akihiko pulled back, self-conscious. He had clearly acted on a sudden impulse.</p>
<p>"Sorry, am I... getting carried away?"</p>
<p>She smiled, and bit back a laugh.</p>
<p>"A little bit, but it's nice. Keep going."</p>
<p>Happy with that answer, he leaned in and kissed her again. Slow and deliberate, his tongue pushing inside her mouth. The smell and taste of cigarettes weren't so bad like this.</p>
<p>Somewhere, between their eager mouths, she told him to touch her. He was quick to oblige, not an ounce of shame between them. A hand ran down her back and down her thigh until passing by the fabric of her skirt. When it slid back up, he had a firm grip on her ass.</p>
<p>His kisses trailed off, down her neck, while her eager hands helped pull their coats off. The garments pooled at their feet, immediately forgotten. It was cold, but they had each other.</p>
<p>Together they stepped awkwardly across the floor, like a hopeless ballroom dance. Her back bumped against the wall opposite from the window. As Akihiko pinned her there, she felt a conspicuous hardness pressing against her stomach.</p>
<p>Their eyes met. He looked like he might say something, but she didn't need him to. Her hands stroked down his front, feeling the details of his anatomy through his shirt. His body had changed from when they were teenagers, but it was the same in so many ways. Warm, inviting, fiercely protective.</p>
<p>Both of his hands moved to grab her hips, pulling her bottom-half away from the wall and closer to himself. It was surprisingly bold. Like he wanted to make sure she noticed the heat in his groin.</p>
<p>"You should call me 'Aki' again," he breathed, continuing his exploration without a second's pause. One of his hands slipped between her thighs, generously rubbing over her panties. She had to bite back a soft moan and amused giggle all at once.</p>
<p>"I should? Weren't you the one that asked me to stop, Akihiko-san?" As hoped, her teasing only encouraged him. Her legs opened wide enough for him to tug the elastic of her panties down to her knees.</p>
<p>He stroked her with two fingers, coating them in her wetness before plunging both inside of her. She gasped and took hold of his shoulders, gladly giving him space to work.</p>
<p>"A-Alright, alright! You win, Aki.~" Minako saw a flash of a satisfied smile before her collar bone was once again being coated in hot bites and kisses. In the back of her mind, she thought about the open window. There was nothing they could do about the sound carrying out to the street now.</p>
<p>She found her trembling fingers pulling at his belt, then his zipper. The wet insides of her thighs showed how impatient she was starting to feel. Akihiko mercifully withdrew his occupied hand to help her efforts.</p>
<p>When he hoisted her up by the thighs and held her against the wall, she could feel his hot cock pressed between them. Her feet dangled lazily, several inches off the floor. They both paused to catch their breath.</p>
<p>"Minako, I..." Akihiko began, a crimson blush spreading to his ears. His skin prickled from the cold, but he looked more than warm enough. "I don't think I'm... as gentle as I used to be."</p>
<p>A precious thing to say to the person you loved in high school. Minako held his face in her hands, running her cold fingertips down his jawline.</p>
<p>"...Who's asking you to be gentle?" She teased, unable to shake the smile from her face. He only looked surprised for a split second before beaming right back.</p>
<p>Akihiko buried his face in the crook of her neck once more as he guided his length inside her with ease. His body blanketed so much of hers. It didn't take long before things escalated once again. He groaned while fucking her straight into the wall, only encouraged by her own gasps and moans.</p>
<p>Before, she wondered if he thought of her as frail. If he was so self-conscious that he was afraid she'd break if handled incorrectly. He was wrong about not being gentle anymore. That wasn't the right word to use, anyway.</p>
<p>He held her tight, with no intention of letting go. Like someone who'd lost too much and now had trouble letting go. Always drowning in his own feelings, but never knowing why.</p>
<p>She gripped the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling his head back so they could kiss again. It was more tongue and teeth than anything else, but she liked letting him pour himself into her. He tasted like grief and shamelessness. Sweet, and endlessly passionate.</p>
<p>It wasn't long before her back tried to arch away from the wall and even further into him. Electric waves of pleasure shot through her. Her walls pounded along with the beat of her heart, unrestrained cries pushing out from her throat. She vaguely heard Akihiko grunt in response. He throbbed inside of her, slowing his pace to several hard, deep thrusts as he came. She didn't mind; it felt right.</p>
<p>It was some time before they moved again. To his credit, Akihiko kept holding her up until he knew she was steady enough to stand on her own. Minako readjusted her clothing, a renewed energy in every movement and gesture. Akihiko picked up their coats, glancing around the room with a worried frown.</p>
<p>"If Shinji wasn't already pissed at me... I think this will do it."</p>
<p>She laughed, pulling him closer by the front of his shirt. Standing on her toes, she kissed the corner of his mouth. He had a point. There were still plenty of memories and ghosts for them to deal with.</p>
<p>"Well, we need a new plan to find that watch. Sounds like the perfect thing to discuss over ramen, if you ask me."</p>
<p>Akihiko looked surprised that she still wanted to go out to eat, but decided against saying so. Instead, he nodded gratefully and kissed the top of her head, pulling her close.</p>
<p>"Sounds good. I can bounce a few ideas off of Officer Kurosawa at work tomorrow."</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>as someone that also writes shinjiro, i feel confident that akihiko cumming in his gf in shinji's room is the worst thing that ever happened to him, including getting shot and dying</p>
<p>anyway this was a vague idea that i wanted to hammer out quick, so ignore any issues with canon that i may have overlooked</p>
<p>it's just for fun</p></blockquote></div></div>
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